The first class of students who attended Christiansburg Industrial Institute were formerly enslaved. The last class integrated. The historic collections held in Christiansburg Institute Museum & Archives (CIMA) tell their stories.

Our grassroot, community-based archives open a window into the experiences of Black Appalachians during the United States’ unsuccessful attempt at Reconstruction, the successful installation of Jim Crow, and into the Civil Rights Movement.

You can help us tell these important stories by donating your historic materials to the archives.

CIMA will preserve your important materials and make them accessible to community members and researchers for generations to come. Once your papers are accepted as part of the archives, the materials will be housed in our climate-controlled office where staff will oversee their proper storage and use. Collections will be accessible to you, your family, the public, and researchers such as students, professors, genealogists, and journalists so we can tell a more complete history of education and African American life in Southwestern Virginia.

While Christiansburg Institute Archives focuses its collections on the history of Christiansburg Industrial Institute, we also collect more broadly about African American history in Southwestern Virginia. We collect a diversity of material types and formats, ranging in size from a single item to dozens of boxes. Donated materials do not need to be organized or stored in archival boxes.

Examples of donated materials

• Letters

• Photographs

• Scrapbooks/photo albums

• Memoirs/reminiscences

• Genealogical information

• Speeches/lectures

• Yearbooks/school publications

• School materials like report, cards, homework, textbooks, etc.